96% of back pain can be treated by GPs

Low back pain and sciatica
will be come under the microscope at a Melbourne conference
involving four Australasian medical organisations
specialising in the treatment of these conditions.

The
Australasian Musculoskeletal Medicine Conference will be
held at The Sebel, Albert Park 17-19 October.

According to
conference organiser, Dr Vic Wilk, Melbourne musculoskeletal
physician, 96% of back pain partients who are referred to
orthopaedic surgeons do not require surgery.

“They can
be treated in general practice,” Dr Wilk said.

“Low
back pain costs Australians approximately $1 billion per
annum and could be treated better than it is at present.”

He said the conference will discuss assessment and
treatment of back pain according to simple evidence-based
guidelines instead of rushing into overuse of high-tech
investigations which don’t always find the source of the
pain.

“Much back pain is self-limiting and can be
treated by GPs in their own practices”.

“We would
like to see a reduction in the current overloads experienced
by hospital orthopaedic outpatient departments as more GPs
become confident in assessing and treating back
pain.

“GPs already have a solid medical education and
are easily able to adopt the measures recommended in all of
the guidelines in treating this problem.”

Dr Wilk and
his organisation, the Australasian Faculty of
Musculoskeletal Medicine, along with the Australian
Association of Musculoskeltal Medicne, the Australian
College of Physical Medicine, and the New Zealand
Association of Musculoskeletal Medicine, will bring together
a number of experts in the fields of surgery, radiology,
psychology and rehabilitation.

Professor Nikolai Bogduk
(Newcastle) and Dr Brian McGuirk are keynote speakers. Both
have already published landmark work on treatment of acute
low back pain, and their work forms the basis of the
guidelines used in Australia.

“Most episodes of back
pain are not suited to surgery. Most can be dealt with using
conservative measures. Of course, one needs skills to be
able to sort out those needing surgical attention and those
who do not.

Dr McGuirk will present a study showing that
82% of patients referred to surgeons for treatment of back
pain did not need to see the surgeon at all. And of the
other 18%, less than one-quarter required surgery.

“Our
aim is to get all GPs skilled in this area of medicine so
that we can stem the flood of disability due to back
pain,” Dr Wilk said..

“We can do this by having the
GP intervene earlier and more effectively – and without
having to perform too many expensive – and sometimes
harmful – investigations.”

The doctors who practise
in this area full-time use a variety of techniques, ranging
from manual (hands-on) treatments, psychological
interventions, and behavioural therapy, exercise therapy, to
injections into muscles and joints and around nerves.

Unlike surgeons, chiropractors or physiotherapists GPs
are dealing with the whole of the patient’s health
problems, and back pain is just a part of this.

The
conference will combine scientific meetings with practical
workshops.

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